Big Ten Basketball

[dalgreen]

I wouldn't say UW is for sure not making the second weekend of the tourney, but I wouldn't guarantee them a spot either. As someone pointed out earlier, their easier conference schedule will likely lead to a favorable seed, which will work in their favor. As far as the team itself goes, I'm going to wait and see how they handle their trips to Iowa, OSU, and MSU. Their performance(not necessarily W-L result) will be telling to how far they go in the tourney IMO.

 

Even if they lose those three road games, and if they do the nearly impossible and lose a home game this year they'll still finish 12-4 in the conference. Plus, there's no shame in losing at Iowa, OSU and MSU.

 

Exactly, they're on the fast track to win the conference, part of that being because they don't go to either Assembly hall.

 

Yep. Got a lucky break this year. Can't complain, IU had the easy schedule last year, but didn't have the team to do anything with it. Wisconsin has a shot to go deep. They have had less talented (albeit more experienced) teams go far in the tourney. Illinois has a shot with defense. MSU has a shot with talent. IU has a shot with shooting ability. The conference is strong this year. The B10 tourney should be fun this year.

 

It should be fun. But I don't know which one I'm more sick of, MLB interleague play or college basketball conference tourneys. With so many good Big Ten teams, the tourney may hurt as many as three teams' seeds in the NCAA tourney. I can easily see a team going from a #3 seed to a #5 seed in the tourney with an early exit in the confrerence tourney. Plus, playing three games in three days kills a team that relies on the jump shot.

[hawkeyecub]

Anybody saying that Wisconsin is not a good team is just hatin'. Do I think they'll win the Big Ten, maybe, but maybe not. However, Bo Ryan is a damn good coach and I'm an Illinois fan. They have had good success primarily having only one stud player on the team over the last few years. They are good and will continue to be good because they are well coached, disciplined and play good defense. I still hate the Big Ten scheduling. How difficult is it to start the Big Ten season one week early so that you can have a round robin schedule?

 

Seconded, I'm fairly certain they used to play 18 Conference games before Penn State became a member. Why not 20?

 

Well 20 conference games is a lot. I'm not sure if there are any conferences that play that many games. You would have to eliminate the Big Ten Tournament for sure (which I wouldn't be in favor of) plus start the season before New Year's where there isn't nearly as much exposure and with all of the bowl games, you could really hurt attendance. It would equal much less money.

 

I agree that I miss the round-robin schedule, but with Penn State in the mix it's almost impossible to still have that. I absolutely love the Big Ten Tournament, and all conference tournaments. And while some teams can cost themselves a seed or two, the teams that are beating them can easily gain a seed or two in addition to letting a team play it's way into the NCAA's.

I really don't think they place that big of an emphasis on it during seeding though. In fact the Big Ten gets hosed because they have to play their championship right before the pairings are announced and basically while the seeds are set. The winner gets no bonus for winning the BTT.

[Chocolate Milk]

In fact the Big Ten gets hosed because they have to play their championship right before the pairings are announced and basically while the seeds are set. The winner gets no bonus for winning the BTT.

 

I remember tha Badgers getting hosed by this 2 years ago.

[dalgreen]

Anybody saying that Wisconsin is not a good team is just hatin'. Do I think they'll win the Big Ten, maybe, but maybe not. However, Bo Ryan is a damn good coach and I'm an Illinois fan. They have had good success primarily having only one stud player on the team over the last few years. They are good and will continue to be good because they are well coached, disciplined and play good defense. I still hate the Big Ten scheduling. How difficult is it to start the Big Ten season one week early so that you can have a round robin schedule?

 

Seconded, I'm fairly certain they used to play 18 Conference games before Penn State became a member. Why not 20?

 

Well 20 conference games is a lot. I'm not sure if there are any conferences that play that many games. You would have to eliminate the Big Ten Tournament for sure (which I wouldn't be in favor of) plus start the season before New Year's where there isn't nearly as much exposure and with all of the bowl games, you could really hurt attendance. It would equal much less money.

 

I agree that I miss the round-robin schedule, but with Penn State in the mix it's almost impossible to still have that. I absolutely love the Big Ten Tournament, and all conference tournaments. And while some teams can cost themselves a seed or two, the teams that are beating them can easily gain a seed or two in addition to letting a team play it's way into the NCAA's.

I really don't think they place that big of an emphasis on it during seeding though. In fact the Big Ten gets hosed because they have to play their championship right before the pairings are announced and basically while the seeds are set. The winner gets no bonus for winning the BTT.

 

20 conference games is only two more games than what they used to play. The Pac-10 plays 18 conference games. Speaking for Illinois, starting the conference season prior to New Year's wouldn't hurt attendance a bit. We sell out during Christmas against the Longwoods and Oaklands of the world. Knowing the Hawkeye crowd, I doubt a Big Ten game between Christmas and New Year's would hurt attendance. Again, it's just two more games than what used to be played.

 

What really is the purpose of the conference tourney other than money? At least the ACC gives the regular season conference crown to its conference tourney champion, in addition to the automatic bid. I think what you do over 2+ months means more than three days anyway.

[wolf stansson]

Dearon Williams

Did he redshirt? His HS was in my hs's conference, and he graduated the same year I did I thought ('04).

 

Yes he redshirted last year. Getting on the court this year, he can jump out of the gym, just needs to get his confidence built up.

Do you know why Dearon dropped out. Apparently he's transferring to Bradley in Peoria. That's be a pretty big get for BU.

[Jon]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday. Edited January 19, 2006 by Jon

[Flames24Rulz]

Dearon Williams

Did he redshirt? His HS was in my hs's conference, and he graduated the same year I did I thought ('04).

 

Yes he redshirted last year. Getting on the court this year, he can jump out of the gym, just needs to get his confidence built up.

Do you know why Dearon dropped out. Apparently he's transferring to Bradley in Peoria. That's be a pretty big get for BU.

 

as long as Jim Les is coach of the Braves, that team won't be going anywhere no matter who is on that team.

[Flames24Rulz]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

[hawkeyecub]

Anybody saying that Wisconsin is not a good team is just hatin'. Do I think they'll win the Big Ten, maybe, but maybe not. However, Bo Ryan is a damn good coach and I'm an Illinois fan. They have had good success primarily having only one stud player on the team over the last few years. They are good and will continue to be good because they are well coached, disciplined and play good defense. I still hate the Big Ten scheduling. How difficult is it to start the Big Ten season one week early so that you can have a round robin schedule?

 

Seconded, I'm fairly certain they used to play 18 Conference games before Penn State became a member. Why not 20?

 

Well 20 conference games is a lot. I'm not sure if there are any conferences that play that many games. You would have to eliminate the Big Ten Tournament for sure (which I wouldn't be in favor of) plus start the season before New Year's where there isn't nearly as much exposure and with all of the bowl games, you could really hurt attendance. It would equal much less money.

 

I agree that I miss the round-robin schedule, but with Penn State in the mix it's almost impossible to still have that. I absolutely love the Big Ten Tournament, and all conference tournaments. And while some teams can cost themselves a seed or two, the teams that are beating them can easily gain a seed or two in addition to letting a team play it's way into the NCAA's.

I really don't think they place that big of an emphasis on it during seeding though. In fact the Big Ten gets hosed because they have to play their championship right before the pairings are announced and basically while the seeds are set. The winner gets no bonus for winning the BTT.

 

20 conference games is only two more games than what they used to play. The Pac-10 plays 18 conference games. Speaking for Illinois, starting the conference season prior to New Year's wouldn't hurt attendance a bit. We sell out during Christmas against the Longwoods and Oaklands of the world. Knowing the Hawkeye crowd, I doubt a Big Ten game between Christmas and New Year's would hurt attendance. Again, it's just two more games than what used to be played.

 

What really is the purpose of the conference tourney other than money? At least the ACC gives the regular season conference crown to its conference tourney champion, in addition to the automatic bid. I think what you do over 2+ months means more than three days anyway.

 

Yeah just two more games than used to be played, but four more games than are currently played. If you don't enjoy conference tournaments than nothing I can say will sway you. I personally love them and think Championship Week and that final weekend is one of the best few weeks in the sports world.

 

And I guess Illinois fans can sell out those games between Christmas and New Year's. Lord knows they don't have any bowl games to travel to. Other teams (like Iowa, OSU, Mich, Wisconsin) tend to travel anywhere from 20,000-40,000 fans to their bowl destination during that week, leaving a much smaller group back in town to attend a basketball game during one of the best football weeks of the year. But I guess it's not fair to expect you guys to know much about that, nor will you have to as long as the Zooker is at the helm.

[TruffleShuffle]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

[hawkeyecub]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

Just an awful shooting night and a pretty ugly win. We shot 1-20 from the outside tonight. Got some great looks, just couldn't knock one down.

It looked like it would be a blowout early, but Minnesota got within 5 at the half. Coming out of the half we had 4 straight turnovers and they were knocking down some big shots. We had to stop them on the last possession in regulation and the first overtime just to keep the game going.

Thankfully Erek Hansen played the best game of his career, getting 20 points and 5 blocks. Brunner scored 17 and set a Carver-Hawkeye Arena record with 23 rebounds (18 in regulation). Horner shot horribly but had 10 assists to only 2 turnovers in 51 minutes.

 

This game kills the slim chance we had of going into the Breslin Center and sneaking out a win for the first time in 13 years. They've had all week off while 4 of our starters played 50 minutes last night.

[badgercub]

Dearon Williams

Did he redshirt? His HS was in my hs's conference, and he graduated the same year I did I thought ('04).

 

Yes he redshirted last year. Getting on the court this year, he can jump out of the gym, just needs to get his confidence built up.

Do you know why Dearon dropped out. Apparently he's transferring to Bradley in Peoria. That's be a pretty big get for BU.

 

He was going to be academically ineligible, he was having problems with keeping up with his classes. Another blow to Wisconisin is now Greg Stiemsa has taken a temporary leave from the team for medical reasons, and Marcus Landry was ruled ineligible for last nights game. This is a crushing blow to the teams depth and if they lose both of these guys for any length of time the Badgers could have a tough time making the tournament. I would say their chances of winning the Big 10 just went out the door.

[Derwood]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

 

...giving them a 2-2 record in the Big Ten, tied with the mighty Illini

[illiniguy]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

 

...giving them a 2-2 record in the Big Ten, tied with the mighty Illini

Yeah they have played the same level of teams. :roll:

[UMFan83]

What does everyone think about Michigan so far?

 

They are 12-3 (2-2) and all three of their losses came in rather close games against ranked teams (7 pts to UCLA, 7 points AT Indiana, 5 points AT Illinois) Their best wins however are against the likes of Notre Dame and Miami and they only beat Purdue at Chrysler Arena by 3 points. For the most part, they have struggled against a lot of the teams that they beat.

 

Is this team capable of beating the MSUs, Wisconsins, Ohio States, Iowas of the Big 10 (at home or away) and will this team be able to wade through a strong Big 10 on the way to their first NCAA Bearth since 1998?

 

**This is where I speculate and ramble on**

 

If they win all the games they should (which they have all year), that should give them 16 wins (at Min, at Penn State, at Purdue, vs. Min). I think 20 will be the magic number (along with a win at the Big 10 tournament), so they need to win 4 games with this schedule - vs. MSU, vs. Wisc, at Iowa, vs. OSU, at MSU, vs. Ill, at OSU, vs. Ind. Lets say they go 3-2 at their home games (Chrysler IMO does not have a strong home court advantage), that means they need to beat either Iowa, MSU or OSU on the road. Can they do this?

[Derwood]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

 

...giving them a 2-2 record in the Big Ten, tied with the mighty Illini

Yeah they have played the same level of teams. :roll:

 

Overall, no, they clearly haven't. But I would say that overall PSU has played a lot of mediocre to good teams while the Illini have played either very good teams or complete jokes.

 

PSU is 10-5, with wins over Cornell, Nicholls St., LIU Brooklyn, UMKC, St. Francis, IPFW, New Hampshire, Mt.St. Mary's, Northwestern and Purdue, and losses to Texas A&M, Clemson, Pitt, Ohio St. and Iowa (by 4 points). Overall, better than you would expect, with the losses to teams you'd expect and wins over who you might guess (with NU being an upset probably).

 

Illini is 16-2, with wins over So. Dakota St., Texas Pan-Am, Texas Southern, Wichita St., Rutgers, N. Carolina, Xavier, Arkansas LR, Georgetown, Oregon, Coppin St., Missouri, SE Missouri St., Tenn. Martin, Michigan St. and Michigan, and losses to Iowa and Indiana. They have beat some big conference teams for sure, but some of those other teams are truly pitiful.

 

In no way am I implying that Penn St. is even close to being on par with Illini talent-wise, and I fully expect Illionois to spank the Nittany Lions when they go head to head. But I just wouldn't gloat over some of those wins (especially when you only beat Wichita St. by 1 point.

 

If I thought it was worth arguing, I would figure out the opponents' records overall, but as I said, it's not an argument I can make

[Bruno7481]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

 

...giving them a 2-2 record in the Big Ten, tied with the mighty Illini

Yeah they have played the same level of teams. :roll:

 

Overall, no, they clearly haven't. But I would say that overall PSU has played a lot of mediocre to good teams while the Illini have played either very good teams or complete jokes.

 

PSU is 10-5, with wins over Cornell, Nicholls St., LIU Brooklyn, UMKC, St. Francis, IPFW, New Hampshire, Mt.St. Mary's, Northwestern and Purdue, and losses to Texas A&M, Clemson, Pitt, Ohio St. and Iowa (by 4 points). Overall, better than you would expect, with the losses to teams you'd expect and wins over who you might guess (with NU being an upset probably).

 

Illini is 16-2, with wins over So. Dakota St., Texas Pan-Am, Texas Southern, Wichita St., Rutgers, N. Carolina, Xavier, Arkansas LR, Georgetown, Oregon, Coppin St., Missouri, SE Missouri St., Tenn. Martin, Michigan St. and Michigan, and losses to Iowa and Indiana. They have beat some big conference teams for sure, but some of those other teams are truly pitiful.

 

In no way am I implying that Penn St. is even close to being on par with Illini talent-wise, and I fully expect Illionois to spank the Nittany Lions when they go head to head. But I just wouldn't gloat over some of those wins (especially when you only beat Wichita St. by 1 point.

 

If I thought it was worth arguing, I would figure out the opponents' records overall, but as I said, it's not an argument I can make

 

Be careful Derwood. Don't forget the 11th Commandment.

 

"Thou Shalt Not Disrespect the Illini"

[Derwood]

Oh, woops, you're right.

 

It's always a hoot when you listen to Boers and Bernstein and the angry bretheren of the Illini Nation call up. It's always about the disrespect.

 

Who has a bigger chip on their shoulder: Sox fans or Illini fans? Discuss.

[dalgreen]

Anybody saying that Wisconsin is not a good team is just hatin'. Do I think they'll win the Big Ten, maybe, but maybe not. However, Bo Ryan is a damn good coach and I'm an Illinois fan. They have had good success primarily having only one stud player on the team over the last few years. They are good and will continue to be good because they are well coached, disciplined and play good defense. I still hate the Big Ten scheduling. How difficult is it to start the Big Ten season one week early so that you can have a round robin schedule?

 

Seconded, I'm fairly certain they used to play 18 Conference games before Penn State became a member. Why not 20?

 

Well 20 conference games is a lot. I'm not sure if there are any conferences that play that many games. You would have to eliminate the Big Ten Tournament for sure (which I wouldn't be in favor of) plus start the season before New Year's where there isn't nearly as much exposure and with all of the bowl games, you could really hurt attendance. It would equal much less money.

 

I agree that I miss the round-robin schedule, but with Penn State in the mix it's almost impossible to still have that. I absolutely love the Big Ten Tournament, and all conference tournaments. And while some teams can cost themselves a seed or two, the teams that are beating them can easily gain a seed or two in addition to letting a team play it's way into the NCAA's.

I really don't think they place that big of an emphasis on it during seeding though. In fact the Big Ten gets hosed because they have to play their championship right before the pairings are announced and basically while the seeds are set. The winner gets no bonus for winning the BTT.

 

20 conference games is only two more games than what they used to play. The Pac-10 plays 18 conference games. Speaking for Illinois, starting the conference season prior to New Year's wouldn't hurt attendance a bit. We sell out during Christmas against the Longwoods and Oaklands of the world. Knowing the Hawkeye crowd, I doubt a Big Ten game between Christmas and New Year's would hurt attendance. Again, it's just two more games than what used to be played.

 

What really is the purpose of the conference tourney other than money? At least the ACC gives the regular season conference crown to its conference tourney champion, in addition to the automatic bid. I think what you do over 2+ months means more than three days anyway.

 

Yeah just two more games than used to be played, but four more games than are currently played. If you don't enjoy conference tournaments than nothing I can say will sway you. I personally love them and think Championship Week and that final weekend is one of the best few weeks in the sports world.

 

And I guess Illinois fans can sell out those games between Christmas and New Year's. Lord knows they don't have any bowl games to travel to. Other teams (like Iowa, OSU, Mich, Wisconsin) tend to travel anywhere from 20,000-40,000 fans to their bowl destination during that week, leaving a much smaller group back in town to attend a basketball game during one of the best football weeks of the year. But I guess it's not fair to expect you guys to know much about that, nor will you have to as long as the Zooker is at the helm.

 

Some pretty good razzes there, Hawkeye. It's a good thing I don't take stuff personal on here, otherwise I'd ask when was the last time the Hawks played in a BCS bowl. I'd also say, if your state had more than 100,000 people then it could support its football team in a bowl game and its b-ball team playing during the same week. However, I do believe Illinois will be in a bowl game at the latest 2007, maybe even 2006. We have a nice group coming back. But that's just like a Hawk fan, talking football during b-ball season. Hey, is it true that Alford is going to get his doctorate in colonial sports in America like the almight Dr. Tom Davis did?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I'd ask when was the last time the Hawks played in a BCS bowl

 

That would be 3 seasons ago, and they have played in January bowl games in Florida each year since. :P

[Derwood]

I'd ask when was the last time the Hawks played in a BCS bowl

 

That would be 3 seasons ago, and they have played in January bowl games in Florida each year since. :P

 

that answers that

[hawkeyecub]

Dal- the last time we played in a BCS bowl was 2003, so it's really not all that long ago. 4 straight January bowls though if you're counting. You guys have been to what, 1 in the last 20 years? 2 total bowls in the last 12?

Yeah you're right, we only have approximately 3 million people in the great state of Iowa. Yet the 13 million in Illinois can't get more than 50,000 people to come to watch a coach who they're all sure will take them to the next level. Which is sadder?

 

Enjoy the early stages of the Zook era while you don't know any better. Try going to the Illinois football page and watch the little video for "coachronzook.com". One of the most unintentionally funny things I've seen in quite a while. Well I guess since he told us that he calls recruits while he's in the shower. Or since he listed his bench press and squat in the media guide. Or since he thought Nate Kaeding (All-American kicker, Lou Groza winner) was a running back only 2 weeks before the Outback Bowl. Or going to a frat party in defense of his players who *surprise* were causing trouble and asking if anyone wanted to "throw down".

This was a guy who went a 23-15 in his three years at Florida, despite always having one of the 5-10 most talented teams in the country. Not once could he take that talent and get to 9 wins. Not once could he avoid having 5 losses. His former players made him sound like a joke leading up to this year's Outback Bowl. Talking about how the whole trip was just a party, nobody cared about curfew and no one was serious. Meyer's biggest challenge this year has been cleaning up Zook's mess and trying to instill some discipline into those players.

I'm sorry but he guy is a total joke as a head coach.

 

Hey how is talking football during basketball season any different than all of the Illini fans that want to talk basketball during football season? Come on man. And I'll talk basketball any time. We're no where near Illinois' level but I'm still a major supporter and not full of hatred for Alford (who doesn't have a doctorate).

By the way I'm the last guy who would ever consider Dr. Tom "almighty".

 

And please don't take it personally, because I'm definitely not. I just enjoy a good give and take with Illini fans every now and then. Especially when you have such an easy target leading your program.

[dalgreen]

Dal- the last time we played in a BCS bowl was 2003, so it's really not all that long ago. 4 straight January bowls though if you're counting. You guys have been to what, 1 in the last 20 years? 2 total bowls in the last 12?

Yeah you're right, we only have approximately 3 million people in the great state of Iowa. Yet the 13 million in Illinois can't get more than 50,000 people to come to watch a coach who they're all sure will take them to the next level. Which is sadder?

 

Enjoy the early stages of the Zook era while you don't know any better. Try going to the Illinois football page and watch the little video for "coachronzook.com". One of the most unintentionally funny things I've seen in quite a while. Well I guess since he told us that he calls recruits while he's in the shower. Or since he listed his bench press and squat in the media guide. Or since he thought Nate Kaeding (All-American kicker, Lou Groza winner) was a running back only 2 weeks before the Outback Bowl. Or going to a frat party in defense of his players who *surprise* were causing trouble and asking if anyone wanted to "throw down".

This was a guy who went a 23-15 in his three years at Florida, despite always having one of the 5-10 most talented teams in the country. Not once could he take that talent and get to 9 wins. Not once could he avoid having 5 losses. His former players made him sound like a joke leading up to this year's Outback Bowl. Talking about how the whole trip was just a party, nobody cared about curfew and no one was serious. Meyer's biggest challenge this year has been cleaning up Zook's mess and trying to instill some discipline into those players.

I'm sorry but he guy is a total joke as a head coach.

 

Hey how is talking football during basketball season any different than all of the Illini fans that want to talk basketball during football season? Come on man. And I'll talk basketball any time. We're no where near Illinois' level but I'm still a major supporter and not full of hatred for Alford (who doesn't have a doctorate).

By the way I'm the last guy who would ever consider Dr. Tom "almighty".

 

And please don't take it personally, because I'm definitely not. I just enjoy a good give and take with Illini fans every now and then. Especially when you have such an easy target leading your program.

 

Hawk, it's all good. As I said, I enjoy a good razzing as much as anyone. After all, at least you're not a Mizzou fan. Yep, you're right, Illini fans will talk basketball during football season -- I was just hoping you didn't know that. I'm not a huge Zook fan, but you have to remember just about anyone would be better than Ron Turner. I don't put much stock into any coach at Florida, Miami, Florida State, ND, Texas, etc. being a good recruit since those programs don't really have to recruit -- the program sells itself. But maybe, just maybe, even with the talent Zook had at Florida, competing against the talent of LSU, Auburn, Tennessee and Florida St. I can't fault any coach losing 3-5 games a year with that annual schedule. I still think winning six games next year is not out of the question.

[illiniguy]

#25 Iowa, who beat Illinois, needed a full THREE OVERTIMES to take down the worst team in the Big Ten. Heck, Purdue beat them by 17 on Saturday.

 

and don't forget that Iowa nearly lost to Penn St. on Saturday. I am real confused on most of these teams in the Big 10. One game, some teams look like the class of the conference, the next they look like they could be in the cellar. The conference is pretty even this year and the winner of the Big 10 (probably Wisconsin) is going to have to be the best at protecting their home court.

 

Penn State beat Purdont by 20 tonight, WTF?!?!? Penn State shouldn't beat anyone by 20, except perhaps a local girls' elementary school for the blind.

 

...giving them a 2-2 record in the Big Ten, tied with the mighty Illini

Yeah they have played the same level of teams. :roll:

 

Overall, no, they clearly haven't. But I would say that overall PSU has played a lot of mediocre to good teams while the Illini have played either very good teams or complete jokes.

 

PSU is 10-5, with wins over Cornell, Nicholls St., LIU Brooklyn, UMKC, St. Francis, IPFW, New Hampshire, Mt.St. Mary's, Northwestern and Purdue, and losses to Texas A&M, Clemson, Pitt, Ohio St. and Iowa (by 4 points). Overall, better than you would expect, with the losses to teams you'd expect and wins over who you might guess (with NU being an upset probably).

 

Illini is 16-2, with wins over So. Dakota St., Texas Pan-Am, Texas Southern, Wichita St., Rutgers, N. Carolina, Xavier, Arkansas LR, Georgetown, Oregon, Coppin St., Missouri, SE Missouri St., Tenn. Martin, Michigan St. and Michigan, and losses to Iowa and Indiana. They have beat some big conference teams for sure, but some of those other teams are truly pitiful.

 

In no way am I implying that Penn St. is even close to being on par with Illini talent-wise, and I fully expect Illionois to spank the Nittany Lions when they go head to head. But I just wouldn't gloat over some of those wins (especially when you only beat Wichita St. by 1 point.

 

If I thought it was worth arguing, I would figure out the opponents' records overall, but as I said, it's not an argument I can make

I meant our big ten schedules. You know since you said they were even with us in the Big Ten. We have played the four best teams and PSU has beaten up on the other crap that lives at the bottom of the Big Ten.

[TruffleShuffle]

PSU is 10-5, with wins over Cornell, Nicholls St., LIU Brooklyn, UMKC, St. Francis, IPFW, New Hampshire, Mt.St. Mary's, Northwestern and Purdue,

 

 

Haha, not exactly a who's who of perennial powerhouses here.